Oops. A twist!
"I swear I can explain, Daegal." Naomi wracked her brain for a lie. Anything that would make her not have to admit what she had been hiding from the minute she stepped into the continent. It was too difficult to talk about all that had happened from the beginning. Although Naomi meant to let Daegal know who she was eventually, she couldn't do it as she was yet to find out exactly what Nerina and Chief Topher's motives were. Telling Daegal would put him in danger. Naomi's body trembled that instant when the realization that she couldn't let anything untoward happen to Daegal, crossed her mind. "How did I not notice that I've fallen in love with this man?" She questioned herself, hiking the soft towel higher over her chest. Daegal's face remained stoic as he walked over to her tall wardrobe, pulled the doors open, brought out a floor-length baby blue gown with long sleeves and a high neckline, and threw it at her. She caught it with one hand and raised an eyebrow at him. "Dress.
Nerina struggled to hide the discomfort from her face and body as Dreygor made another jarring turn through the skies. 'What the hell was I thinking? Why didn't I fake an illness or something?' Nerina scolded herself as she held on to Daegal. She tried to relax her body to avoid him noticing her fear and tension but he still did. "Naomi? Are you okay?" Daegal spoke up past the howl of the wind around them. Nerina rolled her eyes. When Naomi had free rein over her body, everyone addressed her by her name, Princess Nerina. Now that her body was hers again, she was being called Naomi. Annoyance flooded her entire body but she pushed past it and cleared her throat. "I am fine but my right thigh aches," She complained. "Oh. That is why you are so tense?" Nerina nodded even though he couldn't exactly see her. "Precisely, my Prince," She agreed with his conclusion with no hesitation. 'He can believe what he wants to as long as it's to my benefit,' She decided in her mind. Sudden
Nerina threaded coils of her bright blue energy through each of her fingers as Delia oiled and combed her long, raven hair. After giving Nerina a thorough and very sensual bath, Nezetta stepped out a while ago to inform the cooks to bring some of Nerina's favorite snacks which gave Nerina the perfect opportunity to think. "It is done, my Princess," Delia murmured, head bowed as she took a step back from Nerina so she could properly view herself in the mirror. "Hm," Nerina barely looked up from her fingers. "Delia?" "Yes, Princess?" "Have you ever thought of your death? How would you like to leave this world?" Nerina asked, her eyebrows knitted together as the color of her magic increased in intensity. Delia snapped her head up in shock but when she met Nerina's icy eyes in the mirror, she instantly lowered her head and swallowed the lump that built up in her throat. "I-I do not understand, Princess," Delia choked out. Nerina shook her head and sighed. Then she clenched her fing
The next morning, Nerina went into the stables and was about to call out Nezetta’s name when the woman rushed out of an empty stall and like a blur, flew into Nerina's arms.Then, Nezetta pressed her lips against Nerina's, content to have her around again. Master Faizar had appeared to her once again the night before and while she had shunned him, a part of her still ate up his words.However, all of that vanished when Nerina tightened her arms around Nezetta’s waist, causing her to sigh longingly into her mouth.Nerina fought the urge to cringe and push Nezetta away from her body but that would be completely out of character for Naomi to do so she had to stick with the act she started."Look who missed me," Nerina said with a cocky smile on her face as Nezetta rolled her eyes."Is it so obvious that I did?""Yes, it is," Nerina confirmed."That aside. You are going on a tour of Asghavia, right? Would you be checking out the dragon arena?" Nezetta asked."I haven't questioned Daegal a
Touring was usually an effortless activity for Nerina but since she was pretending to be Naomi pretending to be her, she had to put in twice the effort.First, Nerina had to behave a bit clueless when she was with Daegal and listen to all his instructions with rapt attention even though she knew every single thing he told her.Then, the almost easy part was behaving like herself. What made it not so simple was that she couldn't play herself too well or Daegal might have gotten suspicious of her.The entire tour was just one big acting performance and by the time Dreygor landed back in the arena, Nerina was exhausted and couldn't wait to get everything over with.There were two things she had to do: Produce an heir and kill Emperor Vulcan. Well, her father didn't exactly say that she had to do one before the other. Since one didn't seem like it would work early enough, then she would have to go with the other."You know, I was promised a tour and not a war council meeting," Nerina star
The next morning, Unity Rock was in uproar. The bell ringers rang the huge bells in Vulcan's tower, signaling to the whole of Asghavia that the Emperor was dead.After an autopsy was conducted by Daegal and the mages of Unity Rock, letters were sent with messengers on fast horses to various Chiefs, and for farther locations, messenger birds were set loose to inform the kingdoms of the continent that the Emperor had passed of natural causes. Nerina continuously had to school her features into one of concern, sympathy, and heartbreak whenever she passed by anyone in the castle. Her father, Chief Topher also mirrored the same look."I am so sorry, Daegal. I know the both of you had your ups and downs and there were times you didn't like him but he was still your father. My comfort for your loss," Nerina said to him using Naomi's method of speaking when he returned to their room after conducting the autopsy. "Hm." That was all he said. His face was a kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions
"You have made me proud, daughter," Chief Topher praised while stroking Nerina's cheek with a calloused thumb.Nerina stood before her father in the middle of her chambers still, unmoving. Barely thirty minutes ago, she was being dressed by Delia and three other maids who fussed over the perfect style for her hair and made last-minute adjustments to the elegant, sweeping dress she was to wear.In an hour, she would be one step closer to finalizing her goal. What she and her father had always wanted—what he had whispered into her ears from the day she could walk."Thank you, Father," Nerina responded with a smirk. To avoid prying ears, she had cast a net of her power around the room so that their conversation would not be heard by anyone."I was not quite sure that you could pull it off.""It is very refreshing to hear of your unwavering trust in me, dear Father," Nerina drawled, recoiling from his touch as she walked around him to sit by her dressing table.She turned her head to the
"This is not exactly court behavior, Emperor," Chief Azriel of the Ojmo tribe in Alsayf said to Daegal as he returned the hug with as much energy. When they disengaged, Daegal scoffed and patted Azriel's shoulders once. "Fuck the court." Azriel threw his head back and laughed at the vulgar statement. "I see you have not changed much since our fighting days." Daegal winced a bit as he remembered the bloodshed during the riots in Alsayf. Riots that were now stirring up again. He never liked battle but it seemed that battle liked and sought him out no matter how much he wanted to run. Both Daegal and Azriel climbed up the dais and Azriel bowed to Nerina deeply. "It is an honor to finally meet you, Empress Nerina. I must say that your beauty and elegance surpass the stories I have heard. You look like a vision of the creator," Azriel complimented, flashing his straight white teeth at Nerina in a charming grin. Nerina returned it with a pleased smile of her own. "You flatter me too mu